We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport

by Deborah Hopkinson Narrated by Lauren Irwin

Overview

Sibert Honor author Deborah Hopkinson illuminates the true stories of Jewish children who fled Nazi Germany, risking everything to escape to safety on the Kindertransport. An NCTE Orbis Pictus recommended book.

Ruth David was growing up in a small village in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power in the 1930s. Under the Nazi Party, Jewish families like Ruth's experienced rising anti-Semitic restrictions and attacks. Just going to school became dangerous. By November 1938, anti-Semitism erupted into Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, and unleashed a wave of violence and forced arrests.Days later, desperate volunteers sprang into action to organize the Kindertransport, a rescue effort to bring Jewish children to England. Young people like Ruth David had to say good-bye to their families, unsure if they'd ever be reunited. Miles from home, the Kindertransport refugees entered unrecognizable lives, where food, clothes -- and, for many of them, language and religion -- were startlingly new. Meanwhile, the onset of war and the Holocaust visited unimaginable horrors on loved ones left behind. Somehow, these rescued children had to learn to look forward, to hope.Through the moving and often heart-wrenching personal accounts of Kindertransport survivors, critically acclaimed and award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson paints the timely and devastating story of how the rise of Hitler and the Nazis tore apart the lives of so many families and what they were forced to give up in order to save these children.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for We Had to be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport:

A Sydney Taylor Notable Book

A Kirkus Best Book

* "Well-crafted, accessible, and essential." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Praise for D-Day: The WWII Invasion that Changed History:

* "Hopkinson has compiled a comprehensive and absorbing overview... this insightful title, chock-full of primary sources, is a strong purchase." — School Library Journal, starred review

"Hopkinson is particularly adept at directing attention to the stories behind the heroic stories." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"How does an author sequentially chronicle multiple, rapidly developing, and simultaneous events and maintain not just coherence, but suspense? Hopkinson employs her signature kaleidoscopic style effectively here: synthesizing complex events into a compelling narrative arc, and sampling myriad voices to add texture and color to the story, while never losing sight of the bigger picture." — The Horn Book

"Such major figures as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley get plenty of attention, but more is given to the experiences of the soldiers who waded ashore under fire or parachuted behind enemy lines. Hopkinson weaves their personal accounts with those of observations by Ernie Pyle and others to bring the invasion vividly to life... An attractively packaged, engrossing history that will appeal to readers fascinated with military strategy." — Kirkus Reviews

"With thoroughness and clarity, this title brings D-Day into focus by breaking it down into components and focusing on human voices and perspectives... provides a wealth of information clearly presented alongside many black and white photos, resulting in an engaging read even for those who may not be interested in a book about military history. The complexity of the historical task undertaken, the challenges of the terrain, and the courage required of those involved is conveyed by the author without hyperbole and by allowing the participants to tell their own stories. Highly Recommended." — School Library Connection

Praise for Dive! World War II Stories of Sailors & Submarines in the Pacific:

* "Hopkinson crafts a gripping narrative... Fascinating World War II history for history buffs and browsers alike." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Readers wait anxiously alongside crew members amid silence and dangerous heat and oxygen levels as the submariners narrowly escape enemy detection or brace for depth charge explosions that rattle bones, fray nerves, and signal possible death... With a fascinating blend of submarine mechanics and tales of courage, readers will dive in deep." — Booklist, starred review

* "It's an appealing, engrossing package for readers fascinated by heroism and military strategy." — The Horn Book, starred review

"The real appeal, of course, is danger and heroism, and in drawing liberally from first-person accounts by surviving veterans, Hopkinson often emulates the tone of Greatest Generation memoir... And kudos to Hopkinson, whose eagle eye even located the contingent of women nurses evacuated by sub from the Philippines." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A riveting narrative nonfiction selection for middle school collections." — School Library Journal

"The diverse individual stories... make the history come alive." — School Library Connection

Praise for Courage & Defiance: Stories of Spies, Saboteurs, and Survivors in World War II Denmark:

A Sydney Taylor Notable Book

An NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book

A Bank Street Center for Children's Literature Best Children's Book of the Year selection

A Cybils Award Finalist

"[A] spirited, inspiring, and extremely well-researched book... ideal for both classroom use and independent reading." — Booklist

"With numerous pictures and illustrations accompanying the text, this is a fascinating look at a little-known corner of WWII." — Publishers Weekly

Praise for Titanic: Voices from the Disaster:

A Sibert Honor Book

A YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist

An ALA Notable Children's Book

An IRA Teacher's Choice

A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year

A Horn Book Fanfare Book

A Cybils Award Finalist

"An affecting portrait of human ambition, folly and almost unbearable nobility in the face of death." — The Wall Street Journal

"A meticulous recounting of the disaster... Hopkinson's reporting is so rich with information that it will be equally fascinating to young readers and adults alike." — Los Angeles Times

* "Hopkinson knows precisely what's she doing in her coverage of the Titanic disaster... [A] fine book." — The Horn Book, starred review

* "Fascinating... A thorough and absorbing re-creation of the ill-fated voyage." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Riveting." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "An absorbing and richly satisfying read." — School Library Journal, starred review

Praise for Up Before Daybreak:

* "Rarely have the links between northern industry, southern agriculture, slavery, war, child labor, and poverty been so skillfully distilled for this audience." — Booklist, starred review

* "Superb nonfiction writing." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Excellent." — School Library Journal, starred review

Praise for Shutting Out the Sky:

A Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book

An Orbis Pictus Honor Book

An ALA Notable Book

A Sydney Taylor Notable Book

* "Nonfiction at its best." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "[A] fascinating read." — School Library Journal, starred review

School Library Journal

02/01/2020

Gr 7 Up—This captivating narrative of assembled memoirs uses historical details of the Nazis' rise to power and its consequences for European Jews to convey the danger, the emotional cost, and the significance of the Kindertransport (Children's Transport). Hopkinson chronicles the rescue missions that saved young Jewish children from the Holocaust just before the start of World War II and describes the Nazis' systematic and relentless persecution of European Jews that made those rescues necessary. Background information regarding Hitler's rise to power is included, with special attention given to the Kristallnacht violence throughout Germany and the ways that the lives of Jewish families changed in the wake of these riots. Hopkinson's faithful commitment to preserving and broadcasting the voices of as many Kindertransport survivors as possible makes for a rich, dense, and sometimes confusingly detailed narrative. An index, time lines, and source notes will help to orient the reader in the individual stories and provide connections to the broader scope of history. VERDICT This moving account of an important and lesser-known aspect of 20th-century history is recommended for high school and junior high school nonfiction collections.—Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Blinn Junior College, Brenham, TX

MARCH 2020 - AudioFile

Narrator Lauren Irwin immerses listeners in the true stories of Jewish children in the 1930s who fled to safety on the Kindertransport (Children’s Transport), leaving their parents behind in Nazi Germany. In her distinguished English accent, enhanced by authentic-sounding pronunciations of German names and places, Irwin relays the history of the Nazi party’s systematic persecution of the Jews, leading up to Kristallnacht and the mobilization to send the children away to safety. Her formal tone does not hide the terrors the Jewish families faced or the heartbreaking trauma of the child refugees who had to relocate to unfamiliar surroundings. While the narrative is dense with details, chime tones in the recording help separate factual sidebars from the personal memoirs of the survivors. S.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172396670
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	02/04/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Read an Excerpt

Marianne’s friends started to treat her differently. “The security of my own small world gradually began to give way. I remember my sorrow when I was not invited to the usual round of birthday parties. I was the only Jewish girl in my form [grade level] and I found to my shame and discomfort that my former friends would no longer sit next to me... In the playground they were not allowed to talk to me or play with me. I walked around on my own.”

It was much the same for her parents. It had become dangerous for other town residents to be associated with Jewish people. “They were simply not allowed to [talk to us], and risked their jobs and the goodwill of the authorities if they ignored these instructions,” said Marianne. “I remember one very good friend who deliberately came across the street to greet my mother and speak to her. My mother was quite shocked and afraid for her [friend’s] safety.”

That woman’s defiance was the exception. Most people seemed perfectly glad to turn their backs—or worse. “I remember one occasion, fairly early on, when there was a Sunday of harassment. Young men in brown uniforms were driven round the town in open lorries [trucks]. They stopped outside the houses where Jews were known to live and bawled obscene anti-Semitic song. I was very frightened and blocked up my ears. My mother, white as a sheet, said comfortingly, ‘As long as they only sing, it will be all right.’”

Marianne realized that the “innocent, calm, comfortable days were over—forever.” Instead, “a worrying time started.”

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